A writer reflects on parenthood and what to talk about when confronting extinction.
Climate
Posted inFebruary 1, 2022: Essential
Electric vehicles drive up demand for ‘green metals’
The need for energy-transition metals breathes life into new mines in the West.
Posted inArticles
Biden’s ‘herky-jerky’ first year on Western issues
The new president sacrificed bold executive action to try to win over Congress.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2022: Essential
How do you make a movie about a hyperobject?
The film ‘Don’t Look Up’ turns climate change into an allegorical comet.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
A shellfish company gets into the weeds
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community shows how eelgrass and aquaculture can coexist in Puget Sound.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
2021’s climate was one of contrasts, contradictions and extremes
There was one constant: Heat.
Posted inArticles
At the Colorado River conference, ‘It’s really no longer a drill’
Water managers announce new measures to deal with dwindling water supply.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire survivors face another threat: PTSD
As disasters become more frequent, acute stress can turn chronic.
Posted inArticles
Corporations are consolidating water and land rights in the West
With farms, ranches and rural communities facing unprecedented threats, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?
Posted inArticles
Winter without snow is coming
Parts of the Mountain West could be nearly snowless for years at a time in just a few decades.
Posted inArticles
Where are Alaska’s snowy owls?
The birds serve as an alarm bell for the repercussions of environmental change.
Posted inArticles
Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?
Agribusiness and its proponents say repairs will benefit disadvantaged towns. Those residents disagree.
Posted inArticles
In the wake of floods, what’s next for salmon?
Recently released eggs likely bore the brunt of record-breaking rains in the Pacific Northwest.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
How heat waves warp ecosystems
After the Northwest ‘heat dome’ this summer, scientists look for signs of ecological ruin — or resilience.
Posted inArticles
What Biden’s infrastructure bill means for wildfire management
The bill allocates $3.3 billion for firefighter raises, prescribed fire, defending communities and more.
Posted inArticles
Seeing COP26 through the lens of Ríos to Rivers’ chief storyteller
Paul Robert Wolf Wilson’s photos take you into the streets and behind the scenes of the convention.
Posted inArticles
Bringing the fight against dams to COP26
Indigenous activists and allies from Oregon to Chile are highlighting how dams harm the climate and Indigenous peoples worldwide.
Posted inArticles
How New Mexico chiles ended up on the space station
A NASA mission to harvest Hatch green chiles in space just might help farmers on earth adapt their growing methods.
Posted inArticles
Ozone pollution is on the rise in the West
Wildfires, oil and gas drilling, vehicle emissions, and climate change all combine to create more days with unhealthy levels of the colorless, odorless gas.